rome italy travel guide

Gira! Simplifies Italian Villa Selection With “top Tens Of Italy” Listings
In the past few years, the Italian villa rental market has exploded onto the Internet, with a profusion of companies offering extensive and often bewildering online catalogs. For the traveler, the search for a suitable villa or house to rent can be a daunting task. It can take hours to search through the maze of web sites to find the properties with the right characteristics.Most sites allow the user to search by size of villa and location, as well as a few other factors. In most cases, this simply produces a long list of accommodations that the traveler will need to search through, looking for the right rental property for the right experience."Every day we hear from clients who are looking for a very specific type of experience in and can't find it," said Gira! President Susan Broyles. "Each client is unique and is looking for something in particular.

For some, it's a nice walk into a characteristic Italian village or hill town. For others, it's air conditioning or a gorgeous view of the countryside. We decided to compile the best choices for each of these popular requirements and create a new service that other web sites don't offer. We think our customers will have fun browsing through these properties because they will easily see why we selected them."To address this need, Gira! took a close look at the detailed evaluations it has gathered from previous customers, property site inspections by staff, and information from the property owners themselves.The result is a unique compilation in the Italian villa rental business, released this month as the "Top

Tens of Italy". Based on advice from customers, a group of categories was developed, including "Best Views", "Most Romantic Getaways", "Best Vineyard and Wine Producing Estates" and others.

In each category, the ten very best accommodations are listed with links to their descriptions and photographs. The result is a very simple and enjoyable way of finding the most suitable vacation rentals in Italy.The complete list can be found on Gira!'s web site at http://www.italyrentals.com/top10s/index.htm "2005 promises to be the best year yet for Italy," said Susan Broyles. "It's becoming much more of a buyer's market. More properties are available than ever, and for the coming year prices are being held at very attractive levels to bring in the American travelers. We're expecting the interest in to grow even greater in the next few years and we are preparing for it."Gira! Italian Vacation Rentals is a leading provider of vacation rental properties in Italy.

Founded in 1998, it is now one of the fastest growing Internet companies in the Italian vacation rental industry. remains one of the top travel destinations in the world, and Gira! has gained its success through its exclusive focus on the Italian market, rather than villas in general. Because of this, its staff is one of the most experienced and knowledgeable about this very interesting and rapidly growing travel market.Located on the web at www.italyrentals.com, Gira! offers a varying collection of special purpose online catalogs to meet the need of virtually any traveler going to any part of the country. These carefully developed catalogs include "Italian Luxury" for the most elegant properties, "Lakes and Seas of Italy" for waterside accommodations of all kinds, "Umbria Specialties" for a choice offering of affordable and characteristic properties in Umbria and "Tuscany and Beyond", which provides an extensive look at properties throughout all of Italy.Journalists are invited to visit Gira!'s Media Center at www.italyrentals.com/media for further information about article development for travel publications..

Fiabe Italiane
The New York Times notes in "<a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/theater/07turturro.html">With Turturro, Italy Knows No Bounds</a>," that the actor John Turturro directed and acted in "Fiabe Italiane" ("Italian Folk Tales"). The production, on tour last month in Torino, Napoli, and Milano, featured "...minstrels, two overlapping stories, [and] layers of language (English, Italian, Western Lombardian, Sicilian, Neapolitan, Piedmontese, Abruzzese)." <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/03/07/fiabe-italiane.htm">Fiabe Italiane</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/">About.com Italian Language</a> on Sunday, March 7th, 2010 at 02:32:00.<a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/03/07/fiabe-italiane.htm">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/03/07/fiabe-italiane.htm#gB3">Comment</a> | <a href="http://italian.about.com/gi/pages/shareurl.htm?PG=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/03/07/fiabe-italiane.htm&zItl=Fiabe Italiane">Email this</a>
Sing in Italy
Want to <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://www.singinginitaly.com/">learn to sing opera in Italy</a>? A three-week workshop, organized by professional opera singers, is being held this June in <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://goitaly.about.com/od/orvieto/">Orvieto</a>. The program includes voice lessons, coaching sessions, master classes, concerts and language lessons with Italian soprano Laura Toppetti and coach-accompanist Riccardo Cambri. One operatic style sure to be covered is <a href="http://italian.about.com/library/weekly/aa042501a.htm">bel canto</a> (beautiful singing). <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/03/02/sing-in-italy.htm">Sing in Italy</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/">About.com Italian Language</a> on Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 at 20:36:48.<a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/03/02/sing-in-italy.htm">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/03/02/sing-in-italy.htm#gB3">Comment</a> | <a href="http://italian.about.com/gi/pages/shareurl.htm?PG=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/03/02/sing-in-italy.htm&zItl=Sing in Italy">Email this</a>
Spaghetti Eastern
To film buffs, the term "spaghetti Western" is fairly common. It's a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western films that emerged in the mid-1960s, so named because most were produced and directed by Italians, usually in co-production with a Spanish partner. The best-known and perhaps archetypal films were the "Man with No Name" trilogy directed by Sergio Leone, starring Clint Eastwood and with the musical scores of Ennio Morricone: A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965), and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966). Now, though, there's a more recent film sub-genre: <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118015570.html?categoryid=1236&cs=1">spaghetti Eastern</a>! The Italian government has approved a co-production treaty with China, with the provision that an English-version of the films produced must be made for international distribution, along with versions in Italian and Mandarin. <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/02/25/spaghetti-eastern.htm">Spaghetti Eastern</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/">About.com Italian Language</a> on Thursday, February 25th, 2010 at 02:47:16.<a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/02/25/spaghetti-eastern.htm">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/02/25/spaghetti-eastern.htm#gB3">Comment</a> | <a href="http://italian.about.com/gi/pages/shareurl.htm?PG=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/02/25/spaghetti-eastern.htm&zItl=Spaghetti Eastern">Email this</a>
Codice Itanglese
Beware the Italian language police! Agostini Associati, an Italian translation and interpreting services agency, has proposed a series of rules called the <a href="http://www.agostiniassociati.it/codice-itanglese.php">Codice Itanglese</a> (Itanglese Code) to determine when it is appropriate to use an English term or expression when speaking or writing Italian (and when it is not). There have been a series of efforts by politicians and academics to defend the Italian language against what's often referred to as italenglish or itangliano. Several years ago, <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/library/weekly/aa062100a.htm">members of the Italian parliament launched a campaign against English phrases and syntax</a> that were flooding into their culture and language, and, according to them, threatening to kill off Italian! <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/02/21/codice-itanglese.htm">Codice Itanglese</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/">About.com Italian Language</a> on Sunday, February 21st, 2010 at 02:21:57.<a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/02/21/codice-itanglese.htm">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/02/21/codice-itanglese.htm#gB3">Comment</a> | <a href="http://italian.about.com/gi/pages/shareurl.htm?PG=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/02/21/codice-itanglese.htm&zItl=Codice Itanglese">Email this</a>
Petrarca's Love Sonnets
Back in the 1300's, before card stores and chocolate manufacturers all conspired to commercialize the true spirit of love, passion, and romance, <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/od/petrarca/Francesco_Petrarca_Canzoniere.htm">Francesco Petrarca</a> literally wrote the book on infatuation. The collection of Italian verses, Rime in vita e morta di Madonna Laura (after 1327), translated into English as <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/library/weekly/aa021600a.htm">Petrarch's Sonnets</a>, were inspired by Petrarch's unrequited passion for Laura (probably Laure de Noves), a young woman Petrarca first saw in church. <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/02/14/petrarca-love-sonnets-4.htm">Petrarca's Love Sonnets </a> originally appeared on <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/">About.com Italian Language</a> on Sunday, February 14th, 2010 at 02:18:35.<a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/02/14/petrarca-love-sonnets-4.htm">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/02/14/petrarca-love-sonnets-4.htm#gB3">Comment</a> | <a href="http://italian.about.com/gi/pages/shareurl.htm?PG=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/02/14/petrarca-love-sonnets-4.htm&zItl=Petrarca's Love Sonnets ">Email this</a>
Esatto? No!
A community member of the <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://forums.about.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?nav=messages&webtag=ab-italian">About.com Italian Language Forums</a> remembers an interview some years ago with a professor on RAI TV during which, in her words: "he had an explosive fit over the word 'esatto' when used as confirmation or agreement by the second party." Another poster postulates that the professor found it reprehensible on grounds of lack of variety. The point is, <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://forums.about.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?tsn=12&nav=messages&webtag=ab-italian&tid=9129">the Italian language allows a number of possible affirmative answers</a>, depending on the question and on the context, including: "S?t;/em>," "S?certo," "Certamente," and "?cos?t;/em>." <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/02/09/esatto.htm">Esatto? No!</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/">About.com Italian Language</a> on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 at 02:06:20.<a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/02/09/esatto.htm">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/02/09/esatto.htm#gB3">Comment</a> | <a href="http://italian.about.com/gi/pages/shareurl.htm?PG=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/02/09/esatto.htm&zItl=Esatto? No!">Email this</a>
McDonald’s Parla Italiano
McDonald's has introduced a new line of "McItaly" sandwiches and salads in its Italian locations, including a burger topped with olive oil, onion, and smoked pancetta. To coincide with the new menu items is a <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://www.pubblicitaitalia.it/news/Creativita--Marketing/Campagne-e-Spot/con-mcitaly-e-twbaitalia-mcdonalds-parla-italiano-_27011212.aspx">marketing campaign</a> with the tagline: "Il gusto McDonald's ha un nuovo sapore. Tutto italiano."<a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/02/02/mcitaly.htm">McDonald’s Parla Italiano</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/">About.com Italian Language</a> on Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 at 02:05:57.<a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/02/02/mcitaly.htm">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/02/02/mcitaly.htm#gB3">Comment</a> | <a href="http://italian.about.com/gi/pages/shareurl.htm?PG=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/02/02/mcitaly.htm&zItl=McDonald’s Parla Italiano">Email this</a>
Sicilian Tragedee
"Sicilian Tragedee," by Ottavio Cappellani (translated by Frederika Randall), is, according to The New York Times, "<a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/19/books/review/Leavitt-t.html ">a funny novel that both celebrates and satirizes 21st-century Sicily</a>...where donkey carts share the street with sports cars and everyone has a cellphone." <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/01/31/sicilian-tragedee.htm">Sicilian Tragedee</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/">About.com Italian Language</a> on Sunday, January 31st, 2010 at 02:32:07.<a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/01/31/sicilian-tragedee.htm">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/01/31/sicilian-tragedee.htm#gB3">Comment</a> | <a href="http://italian.about.com/gi/pages/shareurl.htm?PG=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/01/31/sicilian-tragedee.htm&zItl=Sicilian Tragedee">Email this</a>
Fare Il Pieno With a Subject Pronoun
The <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://www.nytimes.com/pages/crosswords/">New York Times crossword</a> today features a clue for Italophiles: "Gas brand that's also an Italian pronoun." The answer, of course, is ESSO, a brand name derived from the phonetic pronounciation of the initials of Standard Oil ("S-O").It's also one of those <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/od/grammar/a/aa052808a.htm">forgotten Italian subject pronouns</a> that include egli, ella, esso, essa, essi, and esse.<a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/01/28/esso.htm">Fare Il Pieno With a Subject Pronoun</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/">About.com Italian Language</a> on Thursday, January 28th, 2010 at 02:05:38.<a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/01/28/esso.htm">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/01/28/esso.htm#gB3">Comment</a> | <a href="http://italian.about.com/gi/pages/shareurl.htm?PG=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/01/28/esso.htm&zItl=Fare Il Pieno With a Subject Pronoun">Email this</a>
Pin-up Italiana
A community member of the <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://forums.about.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?nav=messages&webtag=ab-italian">About.com Italian Language Forums</a> points outs out that sometimes "<a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://forums.about.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?tsn=178&nav=messages&webtag=ab-italian&tid=111">it's all right to use a foreign word when the Italian equivalent is awkward or non-existent</a>." Case in point is the term ragazza di cui appendere la fotografia alla parete—a pin-up! <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/01/25/pin-up-italiana.htm">Pin-up Italiana</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/">About.com Italian Language</a> on Monday, January 25th, 2010 at 02:38:11.<a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/01/25/pin-up-italiana.htm">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/01/25/pin-up-italiana.htm#gB3">Comment</a> | <a href="http://italian.about.com/gi/pages/shareurl.htm?PG=http://italian.about.com/b/2010/01/25/pin-up-italiana.htm&zItl=Pin-up Italiana">Email this</a>

The Ancient City of Rome